Book reproducible by radiant energy



Feb. 8 192 7 R. A. FESSENDEN BOOK REPRODUCIBLE BY RADIANT ENERGY FiledNov. 10. 1920 2 u 2 n n a a o O I I 0 O O nu. "H" I a o 0 o o oon o rooo o o u o o a. f H W 7L m In 0000000 0 I.. .I.... ......O..... 00000000000 0 ......I.O... ...I..O.I...

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88. oPTlCsl Patented Feb. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BOOK REPRODUCIBLE BY RADIANT ENERGY.

Application filed November 10. 1920. Serial No. 423,186.

My invention relates to methods and apparatus for recording andreproducing language and pictures and the like. and more particularly torecording and reproducing books and moving pictures. and still moreparticularly to microscopic reproducible records of books, which I callbook for the reason that such reproductions are, as will be seen.entirely permanent and durable in contradistinction to the presentmethods of printing on paper.

The object of my invention is to insure greater efiiciency, accuracy,and economy in the production and reproduction of such records and toinsure greater durability and convenience in use and the further development of applicants micro-photographic library system. described in hisarticle in the Electrical World, August 22nd. 1896.

Figures 1 to 4 shew. partly diagrammatically, apparatus suitable forcarrying out my invention. Fig. 1 shews a view of a disc shaped book.with its page setting projection. Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of a discshaped book. Fig. 3 shews a view of square book, and Fig. 4 an edgeelevation of it. Fig. 5 shows a view of a cylindrical shaped book, andFig. 6 shews it in section and shews the manner in which it isreproduced by the radiant energy.

In Figures 1 and 2, 11 and 11' are disks of some transparent material,preferably quartz or glass. These disks are preferably ground opticallytrue on both surfaces and may be perfectly flat. though a shoulder, asshown at 14, may be left on one of the disks. The disks are then groundtrue to approximately one ten-thousandth of an inch around acircumference, though such a high degree of accuracy is not necessary.

If the book to be reproduced is in pages the pages are photographed.either consecutively or by pasting the pages up on a wall andphotographing them simultaneously on one of the disks. 12, 12 representsuch photographs of two pages.

If it is desired to reproduce the illustrations of the book in colors orto reproduce moving pictures in colors three photographs are made ofeach page in the well known manner for example as described in thetreatises on three colour reproductions by Ives and other writers, andcombined in the well known manner on the screen.

line as it does in reading words printed in page form. Also, due to thebreaking up of the line by the punctuation, for reasons well known toauthors, the effect due to longer or shorter sentences. etc. can be muchbetter conveyed than when the matter is paged.

The pages may either be photographed in spiral form,-as shown in Fig. 1,and the disk continuously revolved in one direction while shortening theradius, or they may be photographed in line form, as shown in Fig. 3.with an abrupt shift at the end of each line to the next line of pages.They may also be photographed as shown in Figures 5 and 6, on a cylinderwith the images arranged as described below.

As regards the reproduction of the pages on the disks, the disks may becoated for moderate magnifications with any ordinary good lantern slidecoating. It is preferable, however, to use the old wet plate process asthis gives finer definition.

Where the positives are used to read from I good results may be obtainedby using a greenlight and this may also be used when the negatives areread from, giving green letters on a black background, or if the film isstained, on any desired color of background.

If the ordinary dry plate or wet plate film is used without furthertreatment the two disks may simply be cemented together. For thispurpose any suitable cement may be used, but in most cases the filmitself may be used. the second disk being slid sideways on to the filmof the first plate while the film is still moist, thereby excluding allair bubbles, and the book subsequently dried, which results in such firmadhesion between the two disks that they will break before they can beseparated.

For some purposes it is preferable that the film should be soaked informaldehyde, which may be done either before cementing together orafter they are placed together and before they are thoroughly dried. Ihave found that if the film is so soaked in a solution of silver orbichromate salts that a very pleasing moir effect is produced in thebackground by the crystallization out of the salt on drying.

lVhere especial permanency is desired a method similar to the old methodof photographing on china is used, in which the wet plate process isused with a platinum salt, as described in the Encyclopedia Britannica,vol. 18, p. 832; or Abneys or any standard work on platinum processes,and after the photographs have been made and developed on the disk,preferably a quartz disk, the disk is heated up as described in theEncyclopedia Britannica, vol. 16, p. 501; or in treatises dealing withthe decoration of pottery or the manufacture of fine scales formicroscopic work to such a temperature as will burn oif all organicmatter in the oxygen of the air, leaving only the platinum image of theletters or pictures reproduced, which platinum image apparently sinksright into the quartz or glass as it cannot be scraped off withoutscraping off the glass.

The two quartz or glass (of a type resistant to sudden changes oftemperature) disks are then placed together and heated up to a pointjust below that at which the quartz or glass commences to bend, when, asis well known in the art, the two disks will actually unite to form asingle piece of glass or quartz around the edges without losing theiroptical figure to any detectable amount. See for example Parker andDalladays paper on this method of cementing below fusion, shewing thatthe distortion produced is less than one twentieth of a' wave length oflight, i. e. undetectable; Philosophical Magazine, March 1917. Thishaving been done it will be seen that the result is a disk of quartzabout an inch in diameter and one-eighth inch thick which contains inits center a platinum reproduction of the book which has been copied.

Such books are more permanent than the cuneiform bricks of the Assyriansand may be heated red hot and dropped into water without cracking orimmersed in the strongest acids or alkalies or oils without injury; infact can only be destroyed of set purpose by the use of a hammer orsimilar instrument.

Moreover, they are very convenient as a whole library can be carried ina vest pocket and to utilize them it is only necessary to drop them in aslot to be able to read the book or to obtain about fifteen minuteslength of moving pictures.

Moreover it is possible to read the book auclibly instead of visuallyand by project ing the images or elements of the book, ac

tually to reproduce the spoken languagey I but the method of doing thisis not herein described in detail, or claimed.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6 wherein the two portions 15 and 15 of thebook are of cylindrical form, the images are designated by the referencecharacters 22, 22, and are arranged with variable spacing, the saidvariable spacing corresponding with and conveying the meaning of therecorded matter. To illustrate, and only for the purpose ofillustration. these images may be Braille type. Light from the are 24 ismade direct by the condenser 21 and reflected at right angles by theprism 20 so that the two lines of the dots of the Braille type areprojected on the selenium cells 16, 16, thereby increasing theirresistance every time the shadow of a Braille dot passes throughtheselenium cell.

17 is a source of voltage and 18, 18' are commutators in series with theselenium cells 16, 16 and telephone receivers 19. 19. On revolving thecylindrical book 15, 15 the shadows of the dots will sweep over theselenium cells 16, 16 and produce fluctuations in the amount of currentflowing through the telephones 19, 19. These fluctuations in current maybe read without the use of the commutators 18, 18 but are much moreeasily read when the c'ommutators 1 8, 18 are used because thecommutator 18 may be made to break up the fluctuations produced by thetop line of dots to give a note of 1500 frequencies every time a dotpasses, while the commutator 18 may be used to break up fluctuationscaused by the Braille dots of the lower line so as to produce a note of750 frequencies every time a lower dot passes.

In this way every letter produces a unique succession of musical noteswhich is readily identified by the ear.

These books may-be traversed or rotated by any suitable mechanicalmeans, not herein shewn. A suitable means for intermitting said rotationis shewn in Fig. 1, where 40 is a little strip of steel connected to thedisc 11 and 19, 19 are the poles of an electromagnet. The exciting coilof the electromagnet 19. 19 is connected in circuit with a selenium cellor similar device, and a battery, so that when a shaded portion of therecord on the disc 11, is by the rotation, projected or thrown on theselenium cell, the magnet is excited and the strip 40 attracted and heldfast until the circuit of the coil is broken by a push button so as topermit it to be rotated to the next page. This method is not howeverclaimed herein.

By multiply connected records in contradistinction to isolated records,is meant records whose elements form a connected and intelligible chain,as the words of a line, the

88. OPTICS ord. Broadly, a multiply connected record is a consecutivelyand independently proj ectible series of elements forming anintelligible Whole when projected. By applicants invention numerous newand important technical effects are obtained. by the projection of thosemicrophotographic images, and by other features of his invention. Forexample, if a microphotographic image of a page of a book were placed inthe field of a microscope and observed in the usual manner, the readerwould have to keep his head in one fixed position, which would bepainful, and impossible for long. Moreover the amount of light would beinsufficient for prolonged rea-ding. Also he could not read aphonographic record audibly, reproducing the speech or music, while thiscan be done when the record is projected.

By the term book as used herein is meant multiple connected records ofall kindsi. e. not only a succession of pages relating to the samematter but a succession if images of any other kind, for example, movingpictures or phonograph records or audibly reproducible records of soundand speech, of any convenient type, for example that shewn in applicantsU. S. application Serial Number 358,078, filed Feb. 18th, 1907, or hisU. S. application Serial Number 685,699 filed March 23rd, 1912.

lVhat I claim is:

1. A book, comprising a transparent thin plate, having optically planesurfaces and a series of microphotographic images of the elements ofsaid book side by side on one of said optically plane surfaces, andthereby adapted for the projection optically of said microphotographicimages in intelligible form, and said book being integrally separatefrom the optical system of the projection means.

2. A microphotographic book, reproducible by projection in intelligibleform, comprising a thin transparent plate having its surfaces opticallyplane surfaces, a series of microscopicimages of the elements of saidbook side by side on one of said optically plane surfaces, and a secondthin transparent plate with its surfaces optically plane surfaces, andsealed to that side of the first said transparent plate on which are thesaid microphotographic images.

3. A microphotographic book, reproducible inintelligible form by opticalprojection, comprising two thin transparent plates, having theirSurfaces optically plane surfaces, and having one surface of one platefused to one surface of the other of said plates, and having betweensaid fused surfaces a series of microphotographic images of the elementsof said book.

4. A microphotographic book adapted to be projected optically inintelligible form, comprising a series of microphotographic images ofthe elements of said book enclosed in a transparent medium and out ofcontact with the external air, and integraland separate from theprojecting system of the projecting means.

5. A microphotographie projection book, comprising a series ofmicrophotographic images of the elements of said book and a support forsaid images, said images being fused into said support.

6. A book comprising a transparent plate having optically planesurfaces, and a series of microphotographic images of the elements ofsaid book side by side on one of said optically plane surfaces, saidimages being variably spaced, and said variable spacing incorrespondence with and conveying the meaning of the recorded matter,and thereby adapted for the projection of said micro-photographic imagesin intelligible form, and integrally separate from the optical system ofthe projection means.

7 A book comprising a thin transparent plate having optically planesurfaces, and a. consecutive and connected and Without substantialdiscontinuity image of the elements of said book side by side on one ofsaid optically plane surfaces, and thereby adapted for the projection ofsaid micro-photographic images in intelligible form, and integrallyseparate from the optical system of the projection means.

REGINALD A. FESSENDEN.

